British Riders of 2013: Number 29

Cycling Weekly is counting down the 30 British Riders of the Year thoughout December. The top 10 will be revealed in the December 19 issue of Cycling Weekly magazine.

29: OWAIN DOULL

Over the past few years, new faces have slotted into the British team pursuit squad and the latest young rider to step into the quartet and look like he’s been there for years is Welshman Owain Doull.

The 20-year-old from Cardiff made his senior World Championship debut in Belarus in the spring and immediately made a name for himself by finishing fifth in the scratch race, which was one of the most exciting and aggressive bunch races we’ve seen on the track for a long time, because of the brilliant ride by Ireland’s Martyn Irvine.

Over the summer, Doull forced his way into the team pursuit squad – which is easier said than done given the number of excellent candidates in contention for a place.

At the European Championships in Apeldoorn, Doull joined Steven Burke, Ed Clancy and Andy Tennant to win the gold medal ahead of Russia. The time – 4-02 – may not look like much but Apeldoorn is a notoriously dead track. The thing that was most encouraging was that they were pushed very hard by the Russian team in the final and came out narrowly on top.

A few weeks later, Doull was in the team again as they defeated the Australians in another thrilling final at the Manchester World Cup.

Doull is not only a track rider. He was the best young rider at the Ras stage race in Ireland, and was up in sixth place in the Tour of Britain bunch sprint at Llanberis, won by Mark Cavendish. Next season, Doull will ride for the Irish An Post squad.